By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

UNION CITY — The Mississinawa Valley High School boys basketball team defeated their cross-state rivals, Union City, 70-49 on Feb. 11 to close out the regular season.

Head coach Nick Hamilton said the team wanted to avenge their Dec. 6 loss to Union City. They lost 61-47 at Union City. This time, the team played the way Hamilton thought they would all season long.

“The boys came out fired up, ready to go tonight. They played some good team basketball. It’s what we’ve all been expecting all year. We finally got that tonight,” Hamilton said.

It was a close game during the first half. Both teams traded leads and had their runs.

Like most games this season, the Blackhawks let their frustrations get to them. They had a stretch of turnovers and missed shots during the second quarter.

This time around, the players collected themselves and got back into the game. They clawed their way to a small lead late in the second quarter.

Senior Connor Shimp made a buzzer beater three-point shot before halftime to put the Blackhawks up 36-30.

Then in the third quarter, the Blackhawks outscored the Indians 15-5. Seniors Drew Anguiano and Troy Woodbury combined for 12 of the team’s 15 points. Senior Matt Pisano had the other three points.

All the seniors stepped up to help the team win the game and all got to score in their final home game of their high school career. Senior Jacob Loy had two points in the game.

Hamilton said he has been happy with how all of his seniors worked hard and kept their heads cool all season long. This game showed how hard each senior has worked during their time with the program.

“They’ve given us everything they can every single game. There’s five seniors on this team and they’ve all played a lot of basketball the last four years. I’m extremely proud of every single one of them,” Hamilton said.

The team didn’t let up in the fourth quarter. They kept fighting to keep their lead until they were subbed out for the last time at home.

Anguiano finished the game with 22 points and Woodbury was close behind with 19. Pisano had 13 and Shimp finished with 12. Woodbury made five three pointers while Shimp made three.

The Blackhawks finish the season with a 6-16 record with a 3-8 conference record. The 11th seeded Blackhawks will take on the two seed in Russia on Feb. 16 at Piqua High School in the first round of the Division IV Southwest District Sectional.

Hamilton said he wants to keep the mood light for the tournament so the team can have fun playing in the tournament. He also said if the team can play team basketball like they did in this game, they can be a dangerous team.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]